Telepressure: why the urge to answer emails after work is making us unhealthy

Email-enabled technology has freed us up and facilitated workplace flexibility. It means we can connect with colleagues - and the rest of the world - whenever, wherever.

Take a break: It actually pays to switch off to stay switched on at work.Credit:Getty Images

But it has also enslaved many of us and, when we continue to check in outside work hours, it can come at the cost of our health.

Nearly half Australians check their emails while not at work. For as many as 70 per cent of those who fire up their phones when they wake up, checking emails is the first thing they do each morning.

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New research has found that staying continuously connected and feeling compelled to answer emails, anywhere, anytime, is impacting us in more ways than one.

Dubbed 'telepressure' by the study's authors, from Northern Illinois University's school of psychology, the constant connection and resulting urge to answer ASAP leads to greater risk of burnout, absenteeism and poor sleep quality.

"It's like your to-do list is piling up, so you're cognitively ruminating over these things in the evening and re-exposing yourself to workplace stressors," lead author Larissa Barber told Time.

"When people don't have this recovery time, it switches them into an exhaustion state, so they go to work the next day not being engaged."

Stress is a significant issue in Australia and is estimated to cost businesses more than $10 billion a year.

So why are we adding to our stress by staying switched on?

Certainly, many successful people start their day clearing out their inbox and crafting emails while they're fresh.

Besides, no one is forcing us to answer immediately. In fact, some companies around the world have introduced guidelines that emails outside office hours are only acceptable in "exceptional circumstances" and that workers are not to be penalised for not responding.

For the rest of us, Barber says we all need to work on setting expectations so that we give ourselves and others time to switch off.

Part of the problem, Barber said, is that while we don't like feeling pressured to respond, we don't mind pressuring others.

"We all get kind of used to that immediate gratification of getting fast responses and having those communications that are complete," said Barber, who hopes the study's results will help start workplace conversations about how to manage the issue.

"We all like it when other people are telepressured, because it helps us complete our tasks faster."

Fast track tasks perhaps, but when sustained telepressure is involved it also fast tracks stress and we, if we want to stay switched on at work, we have to learn to switch off.